Management Team

Dr Cassandra Kelly-Cirino is a global health leader known for her extensive experience in infectious disease control and public health. With over two decades of work dedicated to improving health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.

Before joining The Union, Cassandra has held several pivotal roles in various global health organisations.

Cassandra’s commitment to equity and innovation in health care has positioned her as a respected advocate for vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Kobto is a Medical Doctor Public Health Specialist. Since joining The Union in 2013, he has addressed the challenges of tuberculosis (TB) by supporting National Tuberculosis Programmes. This involves planning, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating strategies and policies for the prevention, detection and management of drug-susceptible TB, multidrug resistant TB in adults and children. Dr Koura’s other work includes operational research projects, participating in Union training courses and providing technical assistance.

Dr Ajay Kumar is a seasoned Public Health Practitioner with over 15 years of experience in low- and middle-income settings. He has worked for WHO-India as a consultant for providing technical assistance to the Government of India’s National Tuberculosis Programme, particularly in leading TB-HIV co-ordination activities. He is an author/co-author of over 170 publications, with many contributing to a change in policy/practice and has facilitated over 75 national and international courses.

Lara has been part of the Training and Education Department since 2016, leading the design, development and delivery of face-to-face and online trainings. Prior to joining The Union, Lara advocated for better health policies in Europe and provided public relations advice to multinational organisations in South Africa.

Sanhita has been with The Union since 2020.

Sanhita has nearly 22 years of experience working in the field of human resources with reputable corporates and international NGOs. In her current role, Sanhita is responsible for leading The Union's overall human resources strategy and management.

She is a postgraduate in comparative literature and human resources.

Yen Phan is a seasoned chief financial officer with a distinguished career spanning multiple industries and global regions. With extensive experience in financial leadership roles, she has consistently delivered stellar results through strategic planning, cost optimisation, and operational efficiency initiatives. From guiding start-ups through transformative shifts to steering multinational corporations towards sustainable growth, Yen's expertise in finance, coupled with her commitment to excellence, has earned her a reputation as a trusted advisor and driving force behind organisational success.

David Jackson has an extensive background in international events management and communications for the third sector and non-profit bodies, including environmental, agricultural and arts organisations. He brings to The Union a wealth of experience and a collaborative leadership style that has ensured the successful creation and management of a broad range of live flagship events.

With more than 20 years of experience in publishing, Hugh has a strong track record in assisting publishers to improve the performance of their journals, including their scientific impact, financial performance, author services and sponsorship opportunities. He has worked as the Publisher for Nature Journals and Nature Reviews Journals; the Head of Publishing for the Wellcome Trust; and advised a range of publishers (including Oxford University Press, Company of Biologists and the British Medical Journal) on a broad array of online and print initiatives.

Tyler has an extensive background in membership management, customer service and project development.

Throughout his career, he has worked to improve the member experience, and he brings a wealth of not-for-profit and charity management knowledge to The Union.

For any membership, scientific section, sub section or working group related queries, please email membership@theunion.org.

Alex is a communications professional with public and private sector experience.

He worked in the UK National Health Service for several years - from hospitals to the national research body - before moving to healthcare communications agencies. Alex has led national and global healthcare awareness campaigns.

Prior to joining The Union, he was the Research Communications Manager at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London. Alex has a masters in journalism (web).

Nidhi has worked extensively in India on pressing social development challenges and in several countries across Asia, Africa and North America on issues spanning health, education, livelihoods and humanitarian response. She joined The Union from her previous role as Director, Program Quality and Impact with CARE, Canada.

With 30 years of experience, Nidhi has had the unique opportunity of working within diverse socio-economic contexts, in organisations of differing scales and across management levels. Setting up and managing country offices is Nidhi’s speciality.

John Paul Dongo has worked with The Union since 2011, most recently he supported The Union's DETECT Child TB Project which showed that strengthening child TB services in Uganda was associated with increased case finding and improved treatment outcomes. He is also The Union's lead for the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Child and Adolescent TB Centre of Excellence.

For over 35 years Kelland have been working as an international development and humanitarian professional in Africa and Asia. He brings extensive experience from working on health, education and environmental programs during his career.

In addition, he has over a decade of working experience in Myanmar. Kelland also has a wealth of experience in team-building, strategic thinking, and program management. He also holds a Master’s in Land Use Planning.

Dr Riitta Dlodlo, MD, MPH, has worked in both clinical and programmatic TB, TB-HIV and management of health services and projects for over 30 years in Zimbabwe and other sub-Saharan African countries. Having joined The Union in 2003, she has served as TB-HIV programme coordinator and Director of the Department of TB and HIV from 2015 to mid-2019, when she was appointed Senior Advisor.

Prof Anthony D Harries spent over 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa, working on TB, HIV/AIDS and TB-HIV. Author of hundreds of published papers, in 2008, he joined The Union to launch the Department of Research.